Birthmarked-O'Brien

This is certainly a book for the more mature reader. 

Gaia and her parents live outside the wall.  The people inside the wall live a much easier life but that has never really bothered Gaia until now.  Now, the soldiers have made it personal.  They have taken Gaia's parents because the government suspects them of withholding information that the government wants.  Gaia tries to carry on without them.  She has been trained as a midwife by her mother and she is the only one left in their Sector to help deliver babies.  Gaia has always followed the rules of the Enclave but now she is beginning to question everything about her government.  Should she keep working along as if nothing has happened or risk her life to get inside the walls so she can save her parents?  She knows she can't do it alone, but who can she trust to help her?  Could she live with the guilt of putting others lives in danger? 

The Grimm Legacy- Shulman

Elizabeth has started a new job.  She works at the New York Circulating Material Repository.  Instead of lending out books, the Repository lends out objects- everything from tea sets and hockey sticks to Marie Antoinette's everyday wig.  The collection that requires special access is the Grimm Collection.  As you can imagine this collection includes some pretty powerful magic, not be to handled by just anyone.  When strange things begin happening around the Repository Elizabeth starts feeling very unsettled about the collection. Is someone stealing from the Grimm Collection?  I mean who wouldn't want to wear magical shoes or borrow a magic wand?  When it comes to fairy tales it always seems like with something good comes something evil.   Who is going to pay the price for this one?

Mrs. G  

If I Grow Up- Strasser

DeShawn lives in the Frederick Douglass Project where “daily life is ruled by drugs and gang violence.” He is a smart kid and really wants to do the right thing especially because he knows how much it would mean to his grandmother who has raised him. DeShawn is a cool kid and his friends respect what he is trying to do. They know they can trust him even if he doesn’t agree with their lifestyle. It doesn’t seem fair though when his friends start showing up with new shoes and big-screen TVs. How long can DeShawn hold out when he gets tempted from so many directions?
This comes from the jacket cover, “Strasser opens a window into the life of a teenager struggling with right and wrong under the ever-present shadow of gangs.” He gives us characters who are believable and he certainly doesn’t sugar-coat anything. It is a pretty edgy story and I’m not sure I like how the story ends, but I think it is worth reading.

The Absoluely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian- Alexite

Junior lives on a Spokane Indian Tribe reservation. His parents are both drunks and his family is very poor. Junior takes an inventory of where his life is now and where it is likely to end if he stays on the reservation. He decides to make a change. There is an all-white school in the neighboring town that is one of the best small schools in the state. The students there excel in sports and academics. Junior makes up his mind that he wants to attend school there. This decision creates a few major problems. How will he get to the school that is exactly twenty-two miles away? How will the kids there react? How will his friends take the news that he is leaving them and the reservation each day to go to a fancy “white” school? Especially, when he makes the basketball team and ends up playing against them?
This book is hilarious! I love the fact that the author tells that story though words and comic illustrations. It is really written for the more mature reader, one who can handle bathroom humor and some language appropriately.

Just Listen-Dessen

If you were to drive by Annabel's glass house and look inside you would think you were looking at the perfect family. The ideal family without a care in the world. Annabel would be the first to tell you that looks can be deceiving. She and her sisters are very beautiful and they all have modeled for the same agency. In her latest commercial, Annabel plays the all-American girl: top student, popular cheerleader, prom queen. Who would know that in real life she feels like the girl who has nothing. Her best friend now wants nothing to do with her. What happened during the summer that changed Annabel's life?

The events in the story could happen to anyone. The author, Sarah Dessen, takes a life altering event and teaches young people the importance of reaching out to the ones you love for support. She lets you know that it is okay to trust yourself and your instincts because you ultimately know how to do the right thing.

The Year of Secret Assignments-Moriarty

Mr. Botherit's pen pal project has been assigned and the students at Ashbury are less than excited about having to communicate with a bunch of drug dealers and other criminals from Brookfield High. You see, Ashbury is a private school where most of the parents are rich professional like lawyers and such. Brookfield, on the other hand,.....well, you know. Anyway, this book follows the letters and adventures of three girls and three boys. The girls have been best friends since elementary school and have quite a bit of history together. We find out they are quite the pranksters and are willing to take some risks. They aren't too worried about the consequences because their parents are lawyers. The two of the young men from Brookfield become quite smitten by their pen pals. The third one is a jerk. It is well worth reading the book to find out how the group handles the "jerk".

Because of some of the content I would rate this one more for Mature Audiences.